The present invention is about a bearing element for stringed musical instruments, in particular electric or acoustic guitars, violins and the like, provided with a body having any plan profile.
It is known that the components of a musical band or the persons keen on playing stringed musical instruments use a bearing element to put in correct and appropriate way the instruments.
The bearing element is generally placed on the stand where the musical band, having more stringed musical elements, is performing during a concert, or in a common room of a house or a building.
The bearing elements for stringed musical elements now available on the market are mostly made of metallic material, but there are also some of them completely made of plastic material.
Each of them is provided by a frame which, in use configuration, is mostly spread out in vertical direction.
Its arrangement on the bearing surface causes its substantially similarity to an isosceles triangle shape.
The frame comprises two longitudinal bars connected one to another at one of their ends by articulation means which allow the mutual opening or closing of the longitudinal bars according to the use requirements.
Moreover, the frame comprises support means which, for constructive conformation, allow to house the body of the stringed musical instrument so that it does not slide on the ground.
The support means essentially comprise a couple of arms projecting from the same side of each longitudinal bar of the frame.
According to the embodiments, the bearing element further comprises regulation means coupled only to the arms, or either to the arms or the frame, used to correctly place guitars, or similar musical instruments with bodies of different shape, on the bearing element.
A first adjustment is provided by the mutual opening of the longitudinal bars for placing stringed musical instruments having bodies of different size.
Another adjustment is provided by the arms, which can be coupled with the frame in several points, so to be placed at different distances form the bearing surface.
In fact, according to some well known embodiments, each of the longitudinal bars of the frame is provided, across the whole or a part of its length, with a plurality of through holes in which the end of the arm is inserted.
Said arm is fixedly secured with the frame by fastening means of known type, such as screws that can be handled by a user through a knob.
In this way, the user can place on the bearing element stringed musical elements with irregularly shaped bodies too, like electric guitars used by musical bands playing the so called “heavy metal” genre.
The user inserts one of the arms inside one of the through holes of the respective longitudinal bar, placing said arm at a predefined distance from the bearing surface, and the other arm inside one of the through holes of the other longitudinal bar, placing again this other arm at a predefined distance from the bearing surface.
However, the bearing elements for stringed musical instruments of known type have some inconveniences.
A first inconvenience is related to the fact that it is not possible to place stringed musical instruments of any kind, independently from the width or thickness of their body, on these bearing elements.
In fact, the support means of the bearing element have a specific conformation for some kinds of stringed musical instruments, for instance the electric guitars, which is different from that provided for other kinds of stringed musical instruments, like acoustic guitars or violins.
This happens because the widths of the bodies are different for any musical instruments.
Therefore, the prior art does not allow to place an acoustic guitar on a bearing element comprising support means especially provided for electric guitars.
On the contrary, it is possible to place an electric guitar on a bearing element having support means provided for placing an acoustic guitar, but in this way the electric guitar support is rather unstable and unsure.
On the other hand, bearing elements with the purpose of overcoming this inconvenience are available on the market, by using profiled arms which form more than one housing to allow the support of any kind of stringed musical instrument, either acoustic or electric guitars, or violins, or similar, on the bearing element.
However, even this solution, although representing a good evolution with respect to the prior art, does not allow a continuous regulation of the support means depending on the width or thickness of the guitar to be supported body.
In fact, the support means, made of the same material of the frame, that is metal, are fixed to said frame, so their position is not modifiable depending on the kind of body of the musical instrument to be supported by the support element.
As a consequence, it often happens that some stringed musical instruments placed on the support element are not perfectly fastened to it, making possible that a simple hit against said element or against the bearing surface which supports said element causes the fall of the instrument.
Another inconvenience of the prior art is the fact that the arms adjustment at a desired height on the longitudinal bars by the aforesaid fixing means needs the execution of rather complicated manual operations.
This is mainly due to the fact that the support elements provided with regulation means of known type are made of metallic material, with their components mutually linked by generally screwed coupling means.
The object of the present invention is to overcome the aforesaid inconveniences.